St. Louis Walk of Fame old enough to drink

Twenty-one years ago the St. Louis Walk of Fame was dedicated.  Ten individuals with a connection to St. Louis were honored:

Chuck Berry

Katherine Dunham

James B. Eads

T.S. Eliot

Scott Joplin

Charles Lindbergh

Stan Musial

Vincent Price

Joseph Pulitzer

Tennessee Williams

Over 100 additional people have been inducted in the 21 years since the original 10.

– Steve Patterson

Five years since the Praxair explosion

Five years ago today the normally quiet Lafayette Square neighborhood was rocked by a massive explosion at the Praxair industrial gas facility on Chouteau:

ST. LOUIS – A blaze at an industrial plant sent huge fireballs shooting into the sky Friday afternoon, casting a towering cloud of black smoke over the area as traffic backed up and nearby residents evacuated their homes.

There were no injuries, St. Louis Fire Chief Sherman George said. There also was no word on the cause of the rapid-fire series of spectacular explosions at Praxair Distribution, which processes propane and other gases for industrial use.  (Source)

Video from a nearby resident:

Today the building and site remain vacant.  The 4 acre site, located at 2210 Chouteau, is listed for $2,250,000.

Nearby residents started Praxair Watch to oppose the reopening of the facility.

The 2.105 acre site to the east is listed for $750,000.  Between the two sites is a former street, Mackay Place:

This former street is owned by the same limited liability corporation that owns the site to the east.

The Praxair explosion was featured on an episode of the History Channel’s Modern Marvels as an “engineering disaster.”

– Steve Patterson

Readers support regulation of valets operating on public streets

Readers last week responded to the weekly poll felt some level of regulation of valets was needed:

Q: Rules regarding valet parking vary in the St. Louis region. What are your thoughts regarding valet parking on public streets?

1. Valets are operating on public streets — they need permits and regulation to keep them under control: 59 [33.33%]
2. Valet parking on public streets should take away no more than 2-3 public parking spaces: 53 [29.9%]
3. Valet parking should not be allowed on public streets at all: 46 [25.99%]
4. They should be allowed to take all the public parking spaces they want to take if they have a permit: 7 [3.95%]
5. Unsure: 5 [2.82%]
6. Don’t care what they do: 3 [ 1.69%]
7. Other answer… 3 [1.69%]
8. The operators are just trying to earn a living and provide a need service – they shouldn’t need a permit or be regulated: 1 [0.56%]

The three other answers were:

1. They should rent spots at the meter rate from the city perhaps.
2. They should take no more than 2-3 public spaces AND they need regulation!
3. They should be allowed on public streets BUT not allowed to take away spaces

As more places open in close proximity the more the need to coordinate valet services.

– Steve Patterson

A nice surprise on the east bank of the Mississippi River

One task facing the selected teams in The City * The Arch * The  River Competition to incorporate the Illinois side of the Mississippi River into their solutions. Last month I took my wheelchair across the Eads Bridge to check out the situation.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of pedestrians crossing the river on foot. Granted, it was a very nice afternoon.

From the bridge you can see the casino and the grain elevator on the east bank of the river.

Up close the industrial nature of the working facility is pleasing but just as you pass the view changes dramatically.

You come upon the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park.  The park contains two elements that can be seen from Missouri.  First is the overlook:

The other feature is the geyser.  Four times per day the geyser shoots water into the air, provided it is not too windy.

I suggest visiting the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park on the next nice day we have. I hope the design teams come up with a good way to get from the Eads Bridge to the park.

– Steve Patterson

St. Louis’ 19th century street pattern is a valuable asset getting destroyed little by little

I love the thousands of 19th century buildings in St. Louis.  Many have been designated as historic with placement on the National Register of Historic Places. I think I love our 19th century street pattern even more than the structures that fit into the spaces between the streets.  But little by little our fine network of public streets is being destroyed.

One of the biggest cases is Delmar in Midtown.  Delmar used to run uninterrupted from downtown through the city and out to the suburbs. At Spring St it had a slight jog and the angled street (above) helped facilitate the continuous flow of vehicles (private & mass transit) and pedestrians on Delmar.

Enter Cardinal Ritter College Prep school at 701 N. Spring.  Their facility opened in August 2003 permanently erasing Delmar between Vandeventer and Spring.

b

A recent article talks about the importance of the street grid and it’s intersections:

It’s a little counterintuitive, but it turns out that having lots of intersections is really important for neighborhood walkability and transit use. (Source)

The graphic from the article is so compelling I thought you should see it:

The three images are the same scale.  More streets and intersections means more walkability and fewer cars, reduced pollution, etc.  Urban Planners in the early 20th century knew this.  Harland Bartholomew and his contemporaries sought to reduce intersections so traffic could flow faster.They wanted wide streets — but fewer of them. Rather than multiple choices of streets to take, on foot or while driving, you were given one — the newly widened roads, and later the freeway.

– Steve Patterson